Plain vs reception
Plain and reception are both customer support tools. Plain is aimed at developers and small businesses, while reception is aimed at developers and freelancers. reception costs less, from $25/mo versus $45/mo for Plain. Only Plain has a free plan.
Support tool built for B2B and technical teams
Native in-app support chat for iOS apps, with offers and reviews
| Pricing | Freemium · $45 | Paid · $25 |
| Starting price | $45/mo | $25/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | 14 days | — |
| Built for | Developers, Small businesses | Developers, Freelancers, Small businesses |
| Platforms | web | ios, web |
| Country | GB · 2020 | — |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Plain if
B2B and developer-focused SaaS.
- Built for B2B support in Slack
- Developer-friendly API
- Modern, fast UI
Look elsewhere if: High-volume consumer support (Zendesk, Gorgias).
Choose reception if
Indie iOS developers and small studios with subscription apps who want support chat linked to revenue and reviews.
- Flat monthly price instead of per-seat or per-resolution fees
- Looks native inside the app rather than a web widget
- Ties support conversations to subscription status and revenue
Look elsewhere if: Teams that need Android, web chat, email and a help center in one tool (Intercom, Crisp, Chatwoot).
Plain vs reception pricing
Plain
- Foundation$45/user/moBilled annually; up to 5 seats, 1,000 AI credits/mo
- Horizon$99/user/moBilled annually; 3-10 seats, 2,500 AI credits, SLAs, Teams
- FrontierCustomMultiple workspaces, SSO/SCIM, HIPAA
reception
- Standard$25/moFlat price, all features; early-adopter rate, next price $50
- EnterpriseCustomFor apps above $30k MRR or 10k+ active users
Plain · Key features
- Unified inbox for Slack, Teams, email, Discord, chat
- Customer context via API
- Tiers, SLAs and routing
- AI triage and drafting
- Linear and Jira integration
- API-first architecture
Cons
- Per-seat pricing
- Less suited for B2C volume
- Younger product
reception · Key features
- Native chat UI for Swift, React Native and Expo apps on iOS 17+
- AI answers drawn from your docs with handoff to a human
- In-chat discounts, plan offers and paywalls to recover revenue
- One-tap App Store review requests with your own wording
- RevenueCat, Superwall and Adapty context next to each conversation
- Shared inbox for multiple apps plus replies from Telegram
Cons
- iOS only; no Android SDK listed
- Requires iOS 17 or later and Expo development builds
- Messages are not auto-translated between you and users
Plain vs reception: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Plain or reception?
reception starts at $25/mo and Plain at $45/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Plain and reception have a free plan?
Plain has a free plan. reception has no free plan.